MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE FALL 2015
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New on the Board of Regents Todd Hovenden ’84
Magdalena Kala ’09
Bloomington, Illinois
Todd is founder of Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano, with locations across 10 states. He launched the company in 1999 in Bloomington, Illinois, after working several years for PepsiCo. Todd received his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and his M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. While at Mercersburg as a one-year senior, he was a member of the swim team and a dorm prefect. Todd and his wife, Claudia Bayona Hovenden ’84, have two children, Max ’14 and Gabriella ’15, and live in Bloomington.
Boston, Massachusetts
Magdalena works as a private equity associate for Bain Capital. A native of Poland, she graduated with honors from Harvard University with a degree in economics. At Mercersburg, Magdalena was valedictorian of her class, a National AP Scholar, a member of the Cum Laude Society and the Fifteen, a prefect, president of Mercersburg Model United Nations, editor of The Mercersburg News, and a varsity letterwinner in squash. Magdalena lives in Boston and has been appointed to a special young alumni seat on the Board of Regents.
Reema Datta conducted yoga and ayurveda workshops and retreats in Europe this summer, visiting Paris, Brussels, Vienna, and Oxford. She plans to hold a retreat in India in December and January.
Cyndy Coote Blackburn, mother of Sarah Blackburn Brincef ield, Jamie Blackburn IV ’03, and Natalie Blackburn ’05 (and motherin-law of Victoria Leontieva Blackburn ’03), passed away May 15, 2015.
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Patrick Ferguson is an attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. He and his wife, Kristen, welcomed their second child, Jack Robert, April 8, 2015.
Matt Russell works on patient-safety initiatives at the UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco.
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Nick Jenkins is working in sales for Intel after spending three years at KPMG in Tysons Corner, Virginia.
Emily Peterson Karottki and her husband, Sal, welcomed a son, Alexander Donald, January 26, 2015. (Xander is named for his late great-grandfather, Alexander Dawes Beattie ’41.)
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Mike Bush has been named head football coach at Kentwood High School in Covington, Washington. Mike was a standout football and basketball player at Washington State University. Bradley Codrea, his wife, Sarah, and their newborn son, Jonah Samuel, have moved to Richmond, Virginia.
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Jess Malarik is an architect for Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates in Philadelphia. Molly Messick is a producer/editor for National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. Ugonna Onyekwe was inducted into the Philadelphia Big 5’s 2015 Hall of Fame class for his accomplishments as a basketball player at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year at Penn before playing professionally in Europe and Israel. Mark Oviatt’s father, William, passed away February 3, 2015. Christopher Pick received a master’s degree in humanities and social sciences from George Mason University in May.
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Masroor Ahmed is vice president of finance for the interactive marketing company Jellyvision.
M.C. Corson has started a new job as Mid-Atlantic marketing manager for Rí Rá, a group of Irish pubs/restaurants.
Rache Baird Brand is working as a consultant for Chobani.
In January, Michael Galey was elected partner at the law firm Fisher & Phillips, where he
Kristin Burkhart Sites ’02 and her husband, Mike, with their son, Henry James, who was born September 30, 2014. The family lives in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania.
has practiced employment law for the past six years. Fisher & Phillips was named 2015 Law Firm of the Year for Labor & Employment Litigation by U.S. News–Best Lawyers, and Michael was selected by the Pennsylvania edition of Super Lawyers magazine as a “Rising Star” for the third year in a row. Michael lives in West Chester, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Rachel Kagan, who is a digital producer at Bryn Mawr Communications. Their daughter, Quinn, turned 3 in July. Jane Crawford was featured in a Wall Street Journal article in February about how people’s social circles change as they progress through life.